Employees dressed in maid costumes from several maid-themed cafes in Akihabara line up at prior to a prayer-meeting for protection from COVID-19 and for a thriving business, at the Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo on Saturday. Photo: AP/Eugene Hoshiko
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Japan's coronavirus infections top 30,000 with 295 new cases in Tokyo

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Compare the numbers of infected and dead with other countries.

Look at the density of Japanese cities.

Japan has one of the oldest population on earth, with many people in the70s,80's,90s.

All the predictions for Japan was 100x worse then what your seeing right now.

3 ( +25 / -22 )

Convenient how there was no mention here about the ongoing nationwide "Go To Travel" campaign, which promotes and pays for people to spread around the country.

With about 790 newly found infections (yesterday)

Actually, it was 803.

11 ( +17 / -6 )

Who’s all the cuties?

Never mind the Paranoia Virus

-9 ( +15 / -24 )

It isn't as bad as it sound. We are slowly adapting to it. Out of the 30.000 infection, 21.000 already recovered and there is only around 5000+ active cases. The best we can do is stay vigilant and hope the world develop a cure soon or try to outlast the virus.

-2 ( +14 / -16 )

Out of the 30.000 infection, 21.000 already recovered and there is only around 5000+ active cases.

Yeah, 30,000 minus 21,000 does indeed equal "5000+".

But if you want to down-play things it that way, why not just say "1000+"....

...or heck, just go full denial and say "1+"

4 ( +14 / -10 )

@divinda, Because i didn't add the death results and the ones from the cruise ship Diamond Princess. The active cases are 5636.

7 ( +13 / -6 )

including some 700 cases from the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama in February.

With the numbers as high as they are in the world today, the above-like statements have become minute details and I don’t think it’s necessary to mention it anymore

5 ( +7 / -2 )

30,460 total cases (as stated here, though the government reports this as 30,543)

minus 1,009 total deaths

minus 712 cases on Diamond Princess

minus 21,567 recovered

equals 7,172 active cases (or 7,255 with the gov number)

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Oh well so much for early optimism.

5 ( +10 / -5 )

Tradition lives in Japan. People go to shrines and temples and pray to god when they are in trouble. Social protesting is not their tradition.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

equals 7,172 active cases (or 7,255 with the gov number)

Sorry, I double counted the deaths on the Diamond Princess (13), so the active case number is 7,185 (or 7,268)

6 ( +8 / -2 )

I use worldometers site to keep up with the infection numbers. I guess they hadn't updated today result yet. But i guess is still fine compare to what other countries are going through. I am more worried about the raining season at the moment than the virus. Last thing i want is to experience a flood.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

Koike has urged residents to avoid nonessential outings during the four-day holiday.

You would think that what you see in the photo is considered "nonessential outing"

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Out of the 30.000 infection, 21.000 already recovered and there is only around 5000+ active cases.

And a thousand deaths, which gives a mortality rate of 4%.

Quite high really.

3 ( +10 / -7 )

@since1981, can't be helped. Koike can only urge the citizens and can't force them to stay home. Unless she is willing to break some human right rules. Everyone is going poor and the nation economy already reach a breaking point. Unless you want the government to feed you and pay you money. Those girls you see in the pictures relies on their salary to live on. Most people don't have a choice if they want to survive.

US unemployment rate already in the tens of millions. Unless we want to follow in their footsteps, we can only open shops. We practically already in the recession now.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

We want the government to explain to Japanese people why they do not conduct more testing in Japan. They are hiding something. When we watch TV, they are appealing every day more test, more test.

8 ( +12 / -4 )

@simian lane

I completely agree with you!

The Virus will not disappear. You can see that all over the world. Everywhere had lock downs, but did the virus go away? NO!

After re-opening the cities or countries, the situation is almost same like before the Lockdown.

Best example is Australia.

Also South Korea has again more than 100 cases because of imported cases. That happens when you open the borders.

The Virus will not go away!

Learn to live with it.

Like I always say, do your personal best prevention, wear mask, wash hands, use hand sanitizer and keep social distance where it is possible.

If you are too scared, stay at home and do your own private lockdown.

5 ( +15 / -10 )

@vanityofvanitiesTod, Is kinda hopeless. Because even if government does large scale testing, the resources and manpower required is immense and if some chose to stay home and not test, all works will be completely useless. Because some infected could still go into the open and infect others and have to make everyone redo the testing again. For example let say you are tested negative but then a day later you still got infected by someone. And while you yourself think you are infection free, you spread it everywhere thinking you are safe. So is kinda meaningless. And doing these tests for everyone isn't gonna happen in 1 day and the more people gather, the higher the chance of even more infections.

The only reason why it had work in the earlier days was because some nations use their military to enforce the lock down. So unless Abe decide to finally to use the military, doing large scale testing is just a waste of money.

-5 ( +6 / -11 )

Japan should follow America’s lead in the fight against this virus. America seems to have it all under control.

-11 ( +3 / -14 )

All governments have to make callous risk assessments. How many Covid deaths are acceptable in Japan?

1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000?

If your answer is zero, your argument is a non-starter.

Don't forget that Japan loses 3400 to the flu every year, affecting a wider age range. Also, there is a vaccine for it.

https://www.niid.go.jp/niid/en/2019-10-04-07-17-22/865-iasr/9288-477te.html

Society accepts this risk.

5 ( +10 / -5 )

Yet no reports of mass death

7 ( +12 / -5 )

Its not right for the headline to read that Japan's coronavirus infections top 30,000 because that sounds like active cases, which it isn't. Japan has had that many known cases up to now (actually more because there were and are unknown cases obviously.). Its a vital point the headline is not accurately conveying at all. Worldometer says the known active cases are only 6226. And its worth noting that deaths so far are only 993 with recent deaths per day being 1 or 0 for weeks.

Further I have to question if this is Covid 19 or some other corona virus?

3 ( +10 / -7 )

300 per day 300 per day with little exponential rise. These numbers are fake.

For whatever reason, Olympics, public panic, national reputation, Koike is manipulating these figures. She states 2 when there are 40, for example. The public and the world have the right to know what the real situation is.

The article below proves this yet it was not widely reported.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/8e7350772f050bc3adc2a66ca7c31251d182c9be

Every new virus case has to be faxed in. There is no digital record of the real numbers that way.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

While acknowledging the growing number of infections, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday the current situation does not warrant a re-imposition of a state of emergency.

This just does not make sense. The situation is worse now than it was when the state of emergency was declared, with way more daily cases being reported. Things are obviously not being controlled, yet Abe is committed to not changing a thing. We need the government to present a strategy to contain this, but one is not forthcoming. Instead we are getting a subtler version of the “lets just do nothing and hope it goes away on its own” approach, which has not yielded positive results in other countries where it has been tried.

I have zero confidence in this government.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

HiroToday  07:47 am JST

@since1981, can't be helped. Koike can only urge the citizens and can't force them to stay home. Unless she is willing to break some human right rules. Everyone is going poor and the nation economy already reach a breaking point. Unless you want the government to feed you and pay you money. Those girls you see in the pictures relies on their salary to live on. Most people don't have a choice if they want to survive.

US unemployment rate already in the tens of millions. Unless we want to follow in their footsteps, we can only open shops. We practically already in the recession now.

Your point taken however how many people work in that type of entertainment areas compares to the people working to the real economy of the country. Auto, Food, Electronics, Home Appliances, Textiles, Health, Infrastructure and so on. I am pretty sure that it would be much cheaper the help these few, for a few weeks, who are using their body and charm for money than the government having to pay an entire country for many months. The longer they stay open, families are forced to spend months struggling to support their families and yes the government will eventually run out of money thanks to these few business that want to show how cute they are and how cute their voice can be.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I’m confident there is a correlation between obesity and general fitness of the nation and the mortality rate. Look at the UK and Vietnam for instance.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

@Larr Flint: What ‘second lockdown” are you referring too? We have not had one in Japan at all yet. Do you live here? If you do, then surely you are aware that there is no law in place to impose one.

@Simian and Monty, hats off chaps. You’ve only written what I would have if I had woken up earlier.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I wish JT would stop taking such invasive photos. These people are praying, did they give permission for this photo?

Oh come on. Those costumes are screaming "Look at me!" (And "Take my picture!")

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

I wish JT would stop taking such invasive photos. These people are praying, did they give permission for this photo?

It was clearly a photo op staged by the maid cafes to drum up publicity.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

After re-opening the cities or countries, the situation is almost same like before the Lockdown.

Best example is Australia.

Since I am living in Australia. I must disagree with you. The purpose of a lockdown is to contain the spread of the virus in an area before it gets out of control. The lockdowns worked as apart from the metropolitan area of Melbourne and the Mitchell shire the rest of Australia is relatively covid-19 safe and people are not required to wear mask. The outbreak unfolding in Melbourne now is a result of lapse of judgements by many people. Especially the handling of quarantine of returned travellers.

However, I do agree with you that the situation in Tokyo now is not that bad. You have to be very naive to believe in a mega city like Tokyo with high population density this virus does not exist. Be alerted but do not panic. Take appropriated precaution measures. This virus has already caused too many damage many societies, the last thing we need is unnecessary panic.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

I’m confident there is a correlation between obesity and general fitness of the nation and the mortality rate. Look at the UK and Vietnam for instance.

Not sure its as simple as that. Japan has a 3.5% mortality rate and a low obesity rate. (About 4% obesity). Australia and NZ have ~1% mortality rate, and high obesity rates. (Both ~30% obesity for adults). https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-obese-countries

Perhaps the low smoking rates for Aus/NZ leads to lower mortality? There must be thousands of factors at play regarding Covid mortality, hopefully studies can help us save more people from this horrible virus.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

BurakuminDesToday  10:22 am JST

I’m confident there is a correlation between obesity and general fitness of the nation and the mortality rate. Look at the UK and Vietnam for instance.

Not sure its as simple as that. Japan has a 3.5% mortality rate and a low obesity rate. (About 4% obesity). Australia and NZ have ~1% mortality rate, and high obesity rates. (Both ~30% obesity for adults). https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-obese-countries

It’s worth remembering though that Japan’s low testing rate is likely hiding the true number of cases. If we take that into account, the death rate is likely to be far lower, but putting an exact number on it is impossible unless we know the true infection count.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Sorry, I double counted the deaths on the Diamond Princess (13), so the active case number is 7,185 (or 7,268)

And that means 0.005747755146927703% of the country reportedly has the coronavirus(7,268 out of 126,449,367 people).

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Hiro

I use worldometers site to keep up with the infection numbers. I guess they hadn't updated today result yet. But i guess is still fine compare to what other countries are going through. 

There is data on number of PCR tests performed by countries on worldometer and since you are comparing, why don't you compare the number of pcr tests these countries that are so bad are doing compared to Japan. There are 2 fishermen one is using a trawler and one a hook. Which fisherman do you think will have the bigger catch?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Monty

The Virus will not disappear. You can see that all over the world. Everywhere had lock downs, but did the virus go away? NO!

Can you show us just one post that claimed the virus will be eradicated with a lockdown ? Lockdown helps to slow the spread of the virus and not eradicate it. You are doing yourself no good making up false statement just to push what you are saying.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, May 25: "We have been able to bring the outbreak under control in only one and a half months through Japan's unique approach. The effectiveness of the Japan model has been shown."

4 ( +5 / -1 )

What draws your attention more: The photograph of the "maids" or the headline: "Japan's coronavirus infections top 30,000 with 295 new cases in Tokyo"?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Hiro

Because even if government does large scale testing, the resources and manpower required is immense 

Immense is how much ? It would help your argument if you could provide figures.

The government has thrown 1.3 trillion yen to GoTo travel campaign imagine what this amount could do towards solving the virus.

Presently, the cost of a pcr test is 20,000yen to government.

If the government decides to test 100M people it would cost 200Billion yen. The cost of a fully automatic pcr machine is 8M yen per unit amount by PSS pcr machine manufacturer in Machido Chiba.

The spec is 12 test per hour x 24hrs that is 288test per machine per day

1000 fully auto pcr machines would cost the government 8billion yen which translates to 288,000test per day. 2000 machines worth 16 billion yen will give japan the ability to perform 576,000test a day at a cost of 1.2 billion yen per day

As you can see the amounts quoted herein are not even half the amount spend for the Abenomask. The welfare centers are understaffed some of the money can go towards increasing staff and making it easy for people to get tested and it won't still make a dent in the cost.

I guess, If dentsu was producing PCR machines the government would have ordered 10,000 fully auto pcr machines.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Not that I disagree with your post hahaha

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Please stay vigliant and hopefully the cases will stay low.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Presently, the cost of a pcr test is 20,000yen to government.

If the government decides to test 100M people it would cost 200Billion yen

100M * 20K = 2000 Bilion = 2 Trilion. And this is just 1 go at it. 10minutes later you still may get infected.

I think this qualifies as immense don't you ?

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Well just back from exploring Hiroshima and Shikoku by car.

It is clear preventing infection is not in the minds of those who came up with these ridiculous GoTo campaign else they would have reduced expressway tolls to encourage families to travel safely and avoid trains and buses.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Japan's coronavirus infections topped 30,000 

30,000? Multiply this by at least 10. Japan has had free pass for testing so low because whichever unclear reason, the country is not seeing an avalanche of critical cases that would increase the death poll. The same has been observed in many other countries so that’s not a Japanese thing. I need to say that for the nationalist zealots and other fanatic Japanophiles.

The Japanese government knows it and that’s why it keeps the testing so ridiculously low in order to keep the number of infections low. This allows it to give the impression to its population and the rest of the world that it’s doing well. Saving face is what matters in most Asian countries which will blatantly lie to achieve that.

But the number of infected people is way bigger than that, it’s ridiculous to believe this number.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

30,000? Multiply this by at least 10.

Ok it's 300,000 I multiplied it by 10.

What's next, do I multiply the number of serious cases and deaths too?

1 ( +4 / -3 )

All the predictions for Japan was 100x worse then what your seeing right now.

People see the number of new daily infections at 290, and conclude 'that's OK for a city the size of Tokyo'. They fail to process that 290 cannot be ALL of the infections. How good or bad 290 actually is totally depends on the number of tests that were conducted. If 290 positive tests represents 10% of the total tests given, then it's fair to extrapolate that to the total population of the city.

If journalists want to report on the number of new positive cases, they should always report this alongside the total number of tests and/or the % of positive tests. This gives the data more significance.

Why is the data regarding the total number of tests given on any one day difficult to come by? Well, it's all about controlling the narrative, and the public reaction. '290 positives in a city the size of Tokyo is OK', is a reaction officials are happy with. Therefore whatever number of tests will likely result in 300 ish positives will be the maximum number of tests authorized on any one day.

'This is all just conspiracy nonsense' - I hear some shout.

Just remember that, following the earthquake and Tsunami in 2011, the official government position was that the nuclear power plant cores had NOT melted down - despite the fact they actually had.

The Gov also initially insisted that farmland just outside the evacuation area was fine, and that there was no increased risk of thyroid cancer for children.

It's funny how time shows all the above to be complete BS, and all those people who were insisting otherwise were right in their criticisms and attempts to tell the truth to what actually was going on.

I expect a few years down the line the same will be true of COVID-19. The official numbers are only telling part of the story, and the reality is at least one order of magnitude worse.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Hi Everyone. I hope you’re well. And probably you are.

Lockdown, social isolation supporters and the authorities they support have three principles in their international message to all:

1) Be ever fearful of the severity of the virus and of its unpredictability.

2) Feel very guilty all the time because even if you are well you may well be killing other people by association.

3) Don’t enjoy social life. Especially don’t have Fun, such as by laughing with, hugging, touching. Because these are all leading to #1 and #2 above.

Now, ask yourselves when these authorities will say, “ Okay, everyone. You can go back to the way you used to be”.

The answer to that question is ..... never.

Did you get that? Never.

As long as we rely on these authorities to govern our life, that life is gone forever.

Please have a nice day!

6 ( +10 / -4 )

N1k1

100M * 20K = 2000 Bilion = 2 Trilion. And this is just 1 go at it. 10minutes later you still may get infected.

I think this qualifies as immense don't you ?

Thanks for pointing out that 100M test would cost 2trillion yen and not 200billion as I stated. Considering what the government has already spent and will continue to spend with the half-hearted measures being taken then 2 trillion is not immense, we are talking here of the 3rd largest economy in the world.

It is dumb to downplay the importance of testing by saying that one can get a test now then get infected 10minutes later, It is also true that one can get tested and goes uninfected for months.

The only method available to contain the virus and at the same time keep the economy running is by testing massively, if you know of any other measures we are all hears.

We have heard of the Japan Model but nothing at all what it is. It is nothing but a catch phrase.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Lockdown, social isolation supporters and the authorities they support have three principles in their international message to all:

1) Be ever fearful of the severity of the virus and of its unpredictability.

2) Feel very guilty all the time because even if you are well you may well be killing other people by association.

3) Don’t enjoy social life. Especially don’t have Fun, such as by laughing with, hugging, touching. Because these are all leading to #1 and #2 above.

Now, ask yourselves when these authorities will say, “ Okay, everyone. You can go back to the way you used to be”.

The answer to that question is ..... never.

Did you get that? Never.

As long as we rely on these authorities to govern our life, that life is gone forever.

Please have a nice day!

To memoryfix, and everyone else who keeps on claiming things such as "covid-19 is just a hoax and nothing more than a flu" and "lockdowns and social isolation are just a way the governments take away our freedom":

What would any government benefit from any of these restrictions or possible lockdowns? What would they actually benefit from asking their citizens to stay home and basically stop consuming?

Why would they ask this, if it wasn't to stop the virus from spreading, to flatten the curve, to keep hospitals running as efficiently and for as long as possible?

What other good would lockdowns do for them? Social isolation, restrictions and lockdowns will inevitably damage the economy, so why would they want it, if it wasn't for the reason mentioned above: to stop the virus from spreading. What would any government actually benefit from their citizens "being ever fearful", "feeling very guilty" or "not enjoying social life"?

I think you lot, who think governments just want to "control you and take away your freedom", have watched a little too many Austin Powers & Marvel movies and think the world is filled with evil scientists and mad men, who only want to rule the world.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

we are talking here of the 3rd largest economy in the world.

first to have a better perspective at the size of the economy multiply the population divided by family size with your salary and your savings. That is reality, that is what we have. Everything else is a debatable number.

It is dumb to downplay the importance of testing by saying that one can get a test now then get infected 10minutes later, It is also true that one can get tested and goes uninfected for months.

Testing for the sake of accurately reporting the number of infections is dumb. Military enforced testing weekly could work but obviously I don't see that as very realistic scenario also it will take years to pay for it cover the cost. Testing once with closed border an 8 weeks of military enforced hard lock-down could in theory work but no-one can really predict what will happen on week 9.

We have heard of the Japan Model but nothing at all what it is. It is nothing but a catch phrase.

Social distancing and masks are second nature here . The Medical care is good. And that is it. Not a lot really , not a lot to ask of your citizens , cheap, clean , keeps us rolling.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Mainland China is still reporting single to double digits, New Zealand reporting single digits to zero . . . some small European countries also reporting low numbers . . . . see also,

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=kiQdX62uIeKwtgXN_YjYBA&q=Coronavirus%2C+Japan%2C+graph&oq=Coronavirus%2C+Japan%2C+graph&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzICCAAyAggAOg4ILhCxAxDHARCjAhCTAjoFCAAQsQM6CAgAELEDEIMBOgsILhCxAxDHARCjAjoCCC46DgguELEDEMcBEKMCEIMBOggILhDHARCjAjoFCC4QsQM6CAguELEDEIMBOgYIABAWEB5Q8xdYmXNg03VoA3AAeACAAcABiAG-FZIBBDIxLjeYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwitv7T6purqAhVimK0KHc0-AksQ4dUDCAw&uact=5#spf=1595745441982

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Totally agree with HBJ, we're only seeing the visible part of the iceberg as Japan doesn't do enough tests and has too much pride to admit the truth.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

My wife takes the view that if you are infected with COVID-19, it is best to conceal it if possible. The disgrace of being the person that introduced COVID-19 into a neighbourhood far outweighs the positives of reporting it.

She hates the victim blaming that exists in Japan, but feels it gives no choice. Of course, if your neighbour alreadyhas it, then it is fine - they get the blame for infecting you.

My conclusion is that the virus has spread far more widely than official numbers state.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Test everyone for 2 trillion. Trillion.

Im not exactly saying this is probably the dumbest idea I've seen in a long time but wouldn't it be better to use this amount to other things like ppe and respirators, vaccine research, hiring and training health personnel, building hospitals and testing centers, etc,, to strengthen and better prepare the healthcare system?

If we finish testing everyone what exactly will that achieve? Peace of mind until you ride the next train?

And how often should the government test and spend 2 trillion? Once a week, a month, every 2 weeks?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

What is the point in reporting the daily infections??

How about a weekly report on Sundays so we all know if it's time to quit our jobs and stay home.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

There is something about the article photo that gives me the creeps.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Kobe White Bar Owner

I’m confident there is a correlation between obesity and general fitness of the nation and the mortality rate. Look at the UK and Vietnam for instance.

Spot on. So many interviews with ICU doctors who report that almost all their Corona patients are obese. Somehow this never makes it into those scare statistics. Of course, your country will be hit worse if you have population that is largely obese, is overmedicated, and fed with junkfood. That goes a long way in explaining why Japan is doing better than places like the US and UK.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Zaphod.

regarding - So many interviews with ICU doctors who report that almost all their Corona patients are obese. Could you link one please I’d be interested.

Cheers

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It may happen once again - State of Emergency

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Worldometer says the known active cases are only 6226. And its worth noting that deaths so far are only 993 with recent deaths per day being 1 or 0 for weeks.

Worldometer list deaths per day for the previous 7 days as:

July 26 - 3

July 25 - 1

July 24 - 2

July 23 - 1

July 22 - 1

July 21 - 3

That’s 11 deaths in the last week, or 1.57 per day. I understand your overarching point, but it is undermined by misrepresenting your own cited source.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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